Multi-agent input coordination

ABSTRACT

Multi-agent input coordination can be used to for acoustic collaboration of multiple listening agents deployed in smart devices on a premises, improving the accuracy of identifying requests and specifying where that request should be honored, improving quality of detection, and providing better understanding of user commands and user intent throughout the premises. A processor or processors such as those in a smart speaker can identify audio requests received through at least two agents in a network and determine at which of the agents to actively process a selected audio request. The identification can make use of techniques such as location context and secondary trait analysis. The audio request can include simultaneous audio requests received through at least two agents, differing audio requests received from different requesters, or both.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/385,106, filed Apr. 16, 2019. Allsections of the aforementioned application(s) and/or patent(s) areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to virtual assistants that can listenfor commands or sounds and perform various control functions within anenvironment such as a building. More specifically, this disclosurerelates to mechanisms that automatically coordinate responses andactivities of multiple virtual assistant software agents being usedtogether in or on the same premises.

BACKGROUND

A virtual assistant can be accessed through a software agent in a smartdevice. Examples of virtual assistants include Google Assistant™,Apple's Siri™, Amazon's Alexa™, and Microsoft's Cortana™. Deployment ofmultiple agents for virtual assistants, each with listening capability,is becoming increasingly common in homes and business. In someinstances, these agents simultaneously record and attempt to responduser requests.

SUMMARY

In one example, a system includes a wireless communication interface anda processor communicatively coupled to the wireless communicationinterface, wherein the processor is configured to perform operations.The operations include identifying at least one audio request receivedthrough two or more agents in a network and determining at which of theagents to actively process a selected audio request of the at least oneaudio request using at least one of location context, person interactioncontext, or secondary trait analysis. The audio request(s) includesimultaneous audio requests received through at least two of the agents,at least two differing audio requests received from differentrequesters, or both.

In an additional example, a method includes identifying, by a processor,at least one audio request received through at least two agents in anetwork and determining, by the processor, at which of the agents toactively process a selected audio request of the at least one audiorequest using at least one of location context or secondary traitanalysis. The audio request includes simultaneous audio requestsreceived through at least two agents, at least two differing audiorequests received from different requesters, or both.

In a further example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includesinstructions that are executable by a computing device for causing thecomputing device to perform operations for multi-agent inputcoordination. The operations include identifying at least one audiorequest received through two or more agents in a network and determiningat which of the agents to actively process a selected audio request ofthe at least one audio request using at least one of location context orsecondary trait analysis. The audio request includes simultaneous audiorequests received through at least two agents, at least two differingaudio requests received from different requesters, or both.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentdisclosure are better understood when the following Detailed Descriptionis read with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an architectural-style illustration of a multi-agent inputcoordination environment according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a smart device that providesmulti-agent input coordination according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a system for a multi-agent inputcoordination environment according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for providing multi-agentinput coordination according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain aspects of this disclosure relate to acoustic collaboration ofmultiple listening agents deployed in smart devices on a premises. Thisacoustic collaboration can reduce or avoid incidences of inaccuraterecognition of appropriate actions and user frustration with commandexecution that can result when agents simultaneously record and attemptto respond to user requests. Certain aspects of this disclosure relateto improving the accuracy of identifying requests and specifying wherethat request should be actively processed, improving quality ofdetection and providing better understanding of user commands and userintent throughout the premises.

In one example, a processor carries out operations including identifyingat least one audio request received through at least two agents in anetwork and determining at which of the agents to actively process aselected audio request using at least one of location context orsecondary trait analysis. The audio request can include a simultaneousaudio request received through at least two agents, at least twodiffering audio requests received from different requesters, or both.

In some aspects, determinations are made using secondary trait analysisincluding, as examples, footstep recognition, non-language-soundcadence, habit pattern analysis, or tonal context. In some aspects,determinations are made using location context, including, as examples,localization, movement, or spatial usage restrictions.

In some aspects, the processor activates an attention token at the agentat which the selected audio request is to be honored and displays anindication of the attention token. In some aspects, the processorautomatically sorts ambient sounds into sound categories, and uses thesound categories to provide location context for determining where tohonor the selected audio request. In aspects, actions to be taken by anagent are determined at least in part by a state machine to take intoaccount previous audio requests and actions.

Detailed descriptions of certain examples are discussed below. Theseillustrative examples are given to introduce the reader to the generalsubject matter discussed here and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe disclosed concepts. The following sections describe variousadditional aspects and examples with reference to the drawings in whichlike numerals indicate like elements, and directional descriptions areused to describe the illustrative examples but, like the illustrativeexamples, should not be used to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an architectural-style illustration of a multi-agent inputcoordination environment (MICE) according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure. Premises 100 includes three listening agents. One listeningagent is deployed in smart device 102, another listening agent isdeployed in smart device 104, and a third listening agent is deployed insmart device 106. Requester 108 is in room 110 with smart device 102.Requester 112 is in room 114 with smart device 106. Smart device 104 islocated in room 116. Nobody is present in room 114 with smart device106. The agents in premises 100 form a local network mesh, for example,using a local wireless local area network (WLAN).

Still referring to FIG. 1 , the multiple listening agents shown inpremises 100 are joined in the space. Each agent can probe for otherswithin a network or spatial location. The network can be organized as alayer running over the WLAN and can be organized as a centralizednetwork or a mesh network. The specific examples presented assume a meshnetwork paradigm is used. Optionally, other audio sources that are notincorporated into smart devices can join the network as listeningagents. A microphone in such a device can be dispatched to low coverageor high interference areas such as where a user cannot otherwise beheard due to high noise or distance to existing listening devices.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the smart device 102. For purposesof this example, it can be assumed that smart device 102 is a smartspeaker. Smart device 102 includes an amplification block 202 connectedto antenna 210. Amplification block 202 includes a power amplifier forWi-Fi transmission, as well as preamplifiers or amplifiers for boostingreceived signals. Smart device 102 also includes a processor 204, whichis implemented as part of system-on-a-chip (SOC) 206. A dual-bandwireless LAN (WLAN) interface block 208 is communicatively coupled toSOC 206. The dual-band WLAN interface supports the 2.4 GHz and the 5.8GHz bands. Also included in smart device 102 is flash storage 209 andrandom-access memory (RAM) 211. RAM 211 can include various devices andpossibly memory dedicated to specific purposes such storing encryptionkeys, MAC addresses, and the like for access by processor 204 when thesmart device is in operation. Input/output (I/O) block 212 drives statusLEDs (not shown), receives input from a microphone (now shown) andprovides output to a speaker (not shown). Within the dual band WLANinterface 208, transmitted and received information can be converted toand from radio frequencies (RF), and filtering using baseband orintermediate frequency circuitry can be applied. The SOC 206 isspecifically designed to implement smart speaker functions, and alsoperforms basic signal processing, e.g., synchronization, coding anddecoding.

Still referring to FIG. 2 , the functions of the SOC 206 and the otheraforementioned blocks can be directed and controlled by the processor204, which can be a general-purpose microprocessor, digital signalprocessor (DSPs), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).Supporting control logic can include various types of signalconditioning circuitry, including analog-to-digital converters,digital-to-analog converters, input/output buffers, etc. The flashstorage 209 shown in FIG. 2 includes at least one array of non-volatilememory cells. RAM 211 includes at least one array of dynamicrandom-access memory (DRAM) cells. The content of the flash memory maybe pre-programmed and write protected thereafter, whereas the content ofother portions of the RAM may be selectively modified and/or erased. Theflash memory therefore, is non-transitory computer-readable medium thatis used to store operating system software or firmware, includingcomputer program code instructions 250, which are executable byprocessor 204 to serve as the local MICE agent and carry out themulti-agent input coordination as described herein. Flash storage 209can also be used to store credentials and encryption keys for longerperiods. SOC 206 also contains on-board memory 260 that can serve as anon-transitory medium to store computer program code, credentials, MACaddresses, encryption keys, etc. It cannot be overemphasized that smartdevice 102 is but one example of a smart device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an example of a system 300 formulti-agent input coordination according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure. Local agent 250 in smart device 102 on premises 100 includesspatial localization module 302, audio cleanup module 304, state machine306, agent response coordinator 308, and attention token flag 310. Agent250 is connected to stored sound category data 320 and external network324. External network 324 in this example includes a high-levelawareness agent 326, external services 328, and a MICE cloud agent 332.Sound category data 320 can be stored in the same non-transitory memorydevice as agent 250, on a local server, or in external network 324.Other agents in FIG. 1 can include local agents having the same or asimilar structure as that described here with respect to local agent250.

Still referring to FIG. 3 , spatial localization module 302 provideslocalization through advanced use of sound understanding, optionallywithout explicit optical input as from a camera, or external labels asmight be provided by beacons, global positioning system (GPS data) ormanual tags. A localized position within a space can be determined viaaudio cues provided from various agents through agent coordination orusing other spatial cues such as Bluetooth beacons or the WLAN signal.

Audio cleanup includes improving signal quality from acousticcollaboration of multiple listeners. A MICE agent can in some aspectsidentify simultaneous audio requests and specify where that requestshould be honored for high-quality understanding. The MICE agent can usepassive observation to record a feed and cancel out noise on a secondaryfeed. Alternatively, strong signals in some areas may cause the agent toalways reject commands (e.g. no agent should listen to sounds thatoriginate in a bedroom).

Continuing with FIG. 3 , audio cleanup module 304 includes localizeddata 340 and context data 342. Localized data 340 describes where theparticular agent is working on the premises and specifies audioenhancement routines. For example, a tile bathroom or kitchen mayproduce echoes that obscure audio requests. Context data describes audioenhancement based on removal of conflicting sounds as determined fromother agents using the local network mesh and causes the removal ofconflicting background sounds from buffered audio. Examples of suchconflicting background sounds include users in other rooms, ambientmusic, and location-wide noise. Agent 250 can, over time, automaticallysort ambient sounds into sound categories stored as sound category data320, and audio cleanup module 304 can use the sound categories toprovide audio cleanup.

State machine 306 of agent 250 in FIG. 3 includes localized data 346 andauthorized data 348. In addition to setting a current state based onprevious audio requests and previous actions taken, a determinationbetween multiple possible states can at least in part take into accountlocalized data 346 that describes or depends on where an agent islocated on the premises. Sound category data 320 can also inform thestate machine's determination of a current state. Authorized data 348describes who is authorized to provide audio requests, where certainaudio requests are authorized, or both.

Continuing with FIG. 3 , agent response coordinator 308 determines atwhich of the agents to actively process a selected audio request. Insome aspects, active processing of a request means to honor the requestby programmatically taking action or seeking to take action, as distinctfrom processing that may be carried out by one or more agents tolocalize the request. Agent response coordinator 308 may cause the smartdevice to actively process the request locally, or it may determine thatanother agent should honor the request and communicate that decision tothe appropriate agent over the local network mesh. Attention token flag310 is alternatively set to a value that represents either an activatedor an inactivated attention token for the smart device at which agent250 is operating. An agent can metaphorically grab an attention token tocue a user as to which agent is expecting to act on a request bydisplaying an indication such as a flashing LED. The user can then movenearer to another smart device if a correction is needed.

External network 324 of FIG. 3 includes high-level awareness 326.High-level awareness 326 is a module that optionally runs in the cloudto store and provide configuration information to smart device agents onthe premises. It can provide some of the same functions as a MICE agentremotely. In this example, the functions are connected with such thingsas master user authorization and approximate location in order toeliminate the need to have local agents manage these functions. Externalservices 328 are all the services typically provided to smart devicesthat are related to location awareness, including in some examples, GPSservices. MICE cloud agent 332 duplicates the functions of local agentssuch as local agent 250. MICE cloud agent 332 can provide thesefunctions remotely to older smart devices without a fully capable localagent, or can provide them remotely when a user does not wish to enablethe local agent or the local agent cannot function due to technicalissues. The functions of a MICE agent as described herein can beprovided locally, by the network cloud, or by a combination of both.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process 400 for providingmulti-agent input coordination according to some aspects of the presentdisclosure. At block 402, processor 204 automatically sorts ambientsounds into sound categories over time and the resulting sound categorydata is stored. At block 404, processor 204 identifies audio requestsreceived through listening agents in the network. At block 406,processor 204 performs secondary trait analysis including footsteprecognition, non-language sound cadence, habit pattern analysis, andtonal context to indicate urgency, mood, tone, etc. Non-language soundcadence can include the cadence of groans, shouts, breaths, or sighs.Habit patterns include phrases and sounds uttered frequently such assaying the word okay at the beginning of sentences. The local agent canalso use this information to frame context query responses, such as aquiet query mode to have a calming effect or a happy mode whenappropriate.

At block 412 of FIG. 4 , processor 204 determines contexts such aslocation context and person interaction context using localization,movement, and spatial use restrictions. Determining location context orperson interaction context can include identification of individualswithin the relevant space. Determining location context can also includetriangulation and network features such as GPS, echolocation, visualidentification and voiceprint recognition. Location context can alsoinclude detecting user groups that may be participating in amulti-player social experience. With such an arrangement, processor 204executing agent 250 can localize generic requests to the appropriateagents. Localizing a request can include determining, for example, wherean audio request such as, turn on light, applies. Such an audio requestmight apply near an entry door instead of at a desk or in the kitchen.

Still referring to FIG. 4 , state machine 306 run by processor 204 isset to its current state at block 414 and the current state is stored inmemory, for example, in RAM 211. At block 416, processor 204 executesthe agent response coordinator 308 to determine at which agent (oragents) to actively process a selected audio request. At block 418, theattention token is activated and an attention indication is displayed onthe smart device corresponding to the selected agent. At block 420,processor 204 determines if the request is valid based on spatial usesfor the agent, location context, available connectivity, and otherfactors such as system-wide restrictions or prohibitions. If the requestis valid, at block 422, processor 204 takes action based on the selectedaudio request and stored current state. If the request is not valid,processor 204 issues a denial response at block 424.

In certain aspects, the system can enforce spatial usage restrictionsper agent and optionally restrict functions to specific smart devicepositioning. For example, the system can prevent a user from telling adishwasher to start unless the user is near the dishwasher. States oractions within a single space can expire or be restricted. For example,banking requests can only be permitted at a desk, and the permission toissue valid banking requests can be set to expire. States or actions canbe limited by the presence of certain individuals. The presence or lackthereof of a specified individual or specified individuals in a locationcan be referred to as person interaction context. Actions can be takenor restricted (which can be considered an action) based on personinteraction context either alone or in combination with other factors.For example, a child can be prevented from turning on a televisionunless a parent is nearby.

In certain aspects, the system can allow privacy in different areas byremoving conflicts between devices. Optionally, the users present neareach agent can influence the personal assistant's behavior at thatagent. For example, if children are near the agent, the personalassistant can adopt a friendlier or slower speaking voice than when thespace is occupied solely by adults. In some aspects the need forpasswords or access tokens can be eliminated by the system using userclassification and ranking to allow secure access to electronic files orto other computer resources.

In certain aspects, agents can cooperator to accomplish system-wideupdates of changing characteristics of users (visual, audio, etc.) tonaturally progress the identification of a user to account for aging,growth, etc. Each spatialized agent can adapt different behaviors asappropriate. Smart devices with appropriate smart assistant agents canbe carried on the person or embedded in clothing, and joined to thelocal network mesh as users walk down corridors.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, throughout this specificationterms such as “processing,” “computing,” “determining,” “identifying,”or the like refer to actions or processes of a computing device, such asone or more computers or a similar electronic computing device ordevices that manipulate or transform data represented as physicalelectronic or magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or otherinformation storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices ofthe computing platform.

The system or systems discussed herein are not limited to any particularhardware architecture or configuration. A computing device can includeany suitable arrangement of components that provides a resultconditioned on one or more inputs. Suitable computing devices includemultipurpose microprocessor-based computing systems accessing storedsoftware that programs or configures the computing system from ageneral-purpose computing apparatus to a specialized computing apparatusimplementing one or more aspects of the present subject matter. Anysuitable programming, scripting, or other type of language orcombinations of languages may be used to implement the teachingscontained herein in software to be used in programming or configuring acomputing device.

Aspects of the methods disclosed herein may be performed in theoperation of such computing devices. The order of the blocks presentedin the examples above can be varied—for example, blocks can bere-ordered, combined, or broken into sub-blocks. Certain blocks orprocesses can be performed in parallel.

The foregoing description of the examples, including illustratedexamples, of the subject matter has been presented only for the purposeof illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive orto limit the subject matter to the precise forms disclosed. Numerousmodifications, adaptations, and uses thereof will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of this subjectmatter. The illustrative examples described above are given to introducethe reader to the general subject matter discussed here and are notintended to limit the scope of the disclosed concepts.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a wirelesscommunication interface; a processor communicatively coupled to thewireless communication interface, wherein the processor is configured toperform operations, the operations comprising: identifying a selectedaudio request based on audio requests received through a plurality ofagents in a network; determining a selected agent of the plurality ofagents to actively process the selected audio request, wherein thedetermining the selected agent is based on secondary trait analysis,wherein the secondary trait analysis includes footstep recognition fordetermining user urgency, wherein the selected agent utilizes thefootstep recognition to frame a query response, wherein the queryresponse is in a quiet query mode for providing a calming effect in afirst case where the calming effect is to be provided based on thefootstep recognition, wherein the query response is in a different modefor providing a different effect in a second case where the differenteffect is to be provided based on the footstep recognition, wherein theselected agent is subject to a spatial usage restriction, wherein thespatial usage restriction permits the selected agent to process aparticular audio request that is received by the selected agent and thatincludes a command to control a particular device located at aparticular location, if a user corresponding to the particular audiorequest is determined to be situated at or proximate to the particularlocation at which the particular device is located, wherein the selectedagent is different from the particular device, wherein the audiorequests include simultaneous audio requests received through at leasttwo agents of the plurality of agents or at least two differing audiorequests received from different requesters, and wherein no agent of theplurality of agents is permitted to process any user commands that aredetermined to be above a particular signal strength and that aredetermined to originate from a certain location; and progressivelyupdating a function for identifying the user to account for a changingcharacteristic of the user.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thesecondary trait analysis further includes at least one of locationcontext, person interaction context, non-language-sound cadence, habitpattern analysis to identify a phrase or sound uttered multiple times bythe user, or tonal context, and wherein the changing characteristiccomprises a changing audio characteristic of the user due to growth ofthe user.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the location contextincludes at least one of localization or movement, wherein the selectedagent is configured to differentiate between presence of adults andpresence of children, wherein the selected agent is configured to adaptaudio speech, for output in response to the audio requests, based onwhether a child is detected in proximity to the selected agent, andwherein the selected agent is configured to modify the audio speech, bydecreasing an output speed of the audio speech and adjusting a tone ofthe audio speech to a first tone that is adapted for children, when thechild is detected in proximity to the selected agent, such that theaudio speech is friendlier or slower than when only adults are detectedin proximity to the selected agent.
 4. The system of claim 2, whereinthe operations further comprise: automatically sorting ambient soundsinto sound categories; and using the sound categories to provide thelocation context for determining the selected agent of the plurality ofagents.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: activating an attention token at the selected agent of theplurality of agents; and displaying an indication of the attention tokenat the selected agent of the plurality of agents.
 6. The system of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise running a state machine,wherein the system further comprises a non-transitory computer-readablemedium communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein thenon-transitory computer-readable medium stores a state of the statemachine based on at least one of a previous audio request and a previousaction, and wherein the running the state machine comprises determiningwhether the state machine is permitted to transition from occupying afirst state to occupying a second state based at least in part onlocalized data that specifies positioning of a corresponding agent ofthe plurality of agents in a premises.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe operations further comprise taking an action based on both theselected audio request and the state.
 8. A method, comprising:detecting, by a processing system including a processor, a selectedaudio request based on audio requests received through a plurality ofagents in a network; determining, by the processing system, a firstagent of the plurality of agents to actively process the selected audiorequest, wherein the determining the first agent is based on secondarytrait analysis, wherein the secondary trait analysis includes footsteprecognition for determining user urgency, wherein the first agentutilizes the footstep recognition to frame a query response, wherein thequery response is in a quiet query mode for providing a calming effectin a first case where the calming effect is to be provided based on thefootstep recognition, wherein the query response is in a different modefor providing a different effect in a second case where the differenteffect is to be provided based on the footstep recognition, wherein thefirst agent is subject to a spatial usage restriction, wherein thespatial usage restriction permits the first agent to process aparticular audio request that is received by the first agent and thatincludes a command to control a particular device located at aparticular location, if a user corresponding to the particular audiorequest is determined to be situated at or proximate to the particularlocation at which the particular device is located, wherein the firstagent is different from the particular device, wherein the audiorequests include simultaneous audio requests received through at leasttwo agents of the plurality of agents or at least two differing audiorequests received from different requesters, and wherein no agent of theplurality of agents is permitted to process any user commands that aredetermined to be above a particular signal strength and that aredetermined to originate from a certain location; and progressivelyupdating, by the processing system, a function for identifying the userto account for a changing characteristic of the user.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the secondary trait analysis further includes at leastone of location context, person interaction context, non-language-soundcadence, habit pattern analysis, or tonal context.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the location context includes at least one oflocalization or movement, wherein the first agent is configured todifferentiate between presence of adults and presence of children,wherein the first agent is configured to adapt audio speech, for outputin response to the audio requests, based on whether a child is detectedin proximity to the first agent, and wherein the first agent isconfigured to modify the audio speech, by decreasing an output speed ofthe audio speech and adjusting a tone of the audio speech to a firsttone that is adapted for children, when the child is detected inproximity to the first agent, such that the audio speech is friendlieror slower than when only adults are detected in proximity to the firstagent.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: activating anattention token at the first agent of the plurality of agents; anddisplaying an indication of the attention token at the first agent ofthe plurality of agents.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:automatically sorting, by the processing system, ambient sounds intosound categories; and using, by the processing system, the soundcategories to provide location context for determining the first agentof the plurality of agents.
 13. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: running a state machine; and storing a state of the statemachine based on at least one of a previous audio request and a previousaction.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising performing, bythe processing system, an action based on both the selected audiorequest and the state.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumthat includes instructions that are executable by a computing device forcausing the computing device to perform operations for multi-agent inputcoordination, the operations comprising: identifying a selected audiorequest based on audio requests received through a plurality of agentsin a network; identifying a selected agent of the plurality of agents toactively process the selected audio request, wherein the identifying theselected agent comprises identifying the selected agent using secondarytrait analysis, wherein the secondary trait analysis includes footsteprecognition for determining user urgency, wherein the selected agentutilizes the footstep recognition to frame a query response, wherein thequery response is in a quiet query mode for providing a calming effectin a first case where the calming effect is to be provided based on thefootstep recognition, wherein the query response is in a different modefor providing a different effect in a second case where the differenteffect is to be provided based on the footstep recognition, wherein theselected agent is associated with a spatial usage restriction, whereinthe spatial usage restriction permits the selected agent to process aparticular audio request that is received by the selected agent and thatincludes a command to control a particular device located in aparticular area, if a user corresponding to the particular audio requestis determined to be situated in or proximate to the particular area inwhich the particular device is located, wherein the selected agent isdifferent from the particular device, wherein the audio requests includeat least one of simultaneous audio requests received through at leasttwo agents of the plurality of agents or at least two differing audiorequests received from different requesters, and wherein no agent of theplurality of agents is permitted to process any user commands that aredetermined to be above a particular signal strength and that aredetermined to originate from a certain location; and modifying afunction for identifying the user to account for a changingcharacteristic of the user.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the secondary trait analysis furtherincludes at least one of location context, person interaction context,non-language-sound cadence, habit pattern analysis, or tonal context.17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein thelocation context includes at least one of localization or movement,wherein the selected agent is configured to differentiate betweenpresence of adults and presence of children, wherein the selected agentis configured to adapt audio speech, for output in response to the audiorequests, based on whether a child is detected in proximity to theselected agent, and wherein the selected agent is configured to modifythe audio speech, by decreasing an output speed of the audio speech andadjusting a tone of the audio speech to a first tone that is adapted forchildren, when the child is detected in proximity to the selected agent,such that the audio speech is friendlier or slower than when only adultsare detected in proximity to the selected agent.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise: activating an attention token at the selected agent of theplurality of agents; and displaying an indication of the attention tokenat the selected agent of the plurality of agents.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations furthercomprise: automatically sorting ambient sounds into sound categories;and using the sound categories to provide location context foridentifying the selected agent of the plurality of agents.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise: running a state machine; storing a state ofthe state machine based on at least one of a previous audio request anda previous action; and performing an action based on both the selectedaudio request and the state.